Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to wireless network communications and, more specifically, to techniques for collecting and analyzing notifications received from neighboring nodes across a range of channels.
Description of the Related Art
A conventional wireless mesh network includes a plurality of nodes configured to communicate with one another across various communication links. Nodes in the network typically draw power from an electricity grid in order to perform various operations, including communication operations and data processing operations. Under various circumstances, power outages may occur at certain locations within the grid, and nodes that reside in those locations may lose power and go offline.
In anticipation of such circumstances, a conventional node is typically configured to include an energy resource that allows the node to function for a short time after power has been lost. This short amount of time is generally sufficient to transmit a notification across the network indicating that the node will imminently lose power and disappear from the network. This type of message is known in the art as a “last gasp” message. A management entity responsible for the network collects last gasp messages from nodes in affected regions and then dispatches technicians to bring those nodes back online.
One problem with this approach to network management is that the energy resource in a conventional node typically includes enough energy to transmit only a limited number of last gasp messages on a limited number of channels to a limited number of neighboring nodes. If none of the neighboring nodes are currently listening on the channels on which the last gasp messages are transmitted, then the last gasp messages may not be able to propagate beyond those neighboring nodes to the management entity. When the management entity is not aware that certain nodes within the network have gone offline, there is no real way to dispatch resources or take steps to bring those nodes back online.
Another problem with the above approach to network management is that power outages often affect a large number of nodes simultaneously, thereby inducing the transmission of a large number of last gasp messages. Such rapid increases in traffic across the network can overwhelm the intermediate nodes within the network that are configured to relay network traffic, resulting in lost last gasp messages. Again, when a particular last gasp message is lost, the node that sent the lost message may not receive the services necessary to bring that node back online.
As the foregoing illustrates, what is needed in the art is a more effective way to transmit last gasp messages and other types of notifications across wireless mesh networks.